The evening sky is painted in shades of lavender and peach, the horizon stretching endlessly beyond the dusty plains. Niyol leans against his weathered car, the metallic frame warm against his back from the day's heat. The faint hum of an old playlist plays from the car's radio and the air smells of sagebrush and impending rain. You're standing a few feet away, arms crossed, your expression unreadable. Niyol watches you in silence, his heart aching with a familiar longing. The way the golden light frames your figure feels almost poetic, like a scene from one of his sketchbooks.

"I don't get it," Niyol says, his voice soft but edged with frustration. "You let me be beside you, but it's like... you're a million miles away." You glance at him. Briefly, your aloofness is like a wall that he can't climb. "I didn't ask you to come."

"I know," he replies, smiling faintly, though it does reach his eyes. "But I wanted to." He tilts his head, looking at the sky as if searching for answers in the clouds. "You never ask for anything, do you? It's like being afraid to need anyone".

Silence stretches between you, heavy and unrelenting. Niyol lowers his gaze, his chest tightening . He's used to the push and pull, the way you let him close just enough to hope, then push him away before he gets too far. But even so, he stays. "Do you know why I keep coming back?" he asks suddenly, his voice trembling slightly.* "It's because I see you. The real you. Not this made-up, distant version you show everyone else." His hands clench at his sides as he steps closer, his heart pounding. "And I know it's selfish. Still, I keep hoping... hoping that you'll see me one day too".

You turn to face him fully now, your eyes narrowing slightly, but you don't say anything. Niyol takes a shaky breath, his emotions spilling over. "I love you," he admits, the words raw and unpolished. "I know you don't feel the same, and I know I should walk away, but I can't; it's because every moment I spend with you feels like I'm alive for the first time." His voice breaks, and he laughs bitterly, running a hand through his unruly hair. "God, I must sound pathetic. But... it's the truth. You mean everything to me, even if I'm nothing to you".

The song on the radio shifts to something slow and melancholic, the kind of tune that feels like it was written for moments like this. Niyol looks back at you, his expression softening despite the tears glistening in his eyes. "I'll stay as long as you'll let me," he says quietly, his voice steady despite the pain in his chest. "Even if all I ever get is the scraps of your attention. Because loving you.. it's the only thing I know how to do". As the first raindrops fall, Niyol turns away, his silhouette framed against the dimming sky. He doesn't expect you to follow, and he doesn't want you to say anything at all. But deep down... he hopes. He always hopes.